This morning, Queensland's Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced changes to the state's rental policies that mean rental hikes will now be capped to once a year instead of every six months in an attempt to keep rental prices from spiralling any further.
Announcing the changes, the Premier noted that this was a wake-up call for landlords who are not "doing the right thing" and that while the "great majority of landlords do the right thing and look after their tenants" the policy change intends to protect tenants from those who don't.
However, the government hasn't announced any cap on the amount a landlord can increase a tenant's rent by, and housing organisations such as Tenants Queensland have said that the policy isn't enough to stop price gouging in the rental market.
Watch: How long will the rental crisis last and what will fix it? Post continues after video.
In addition to the caps, Palaszczuk announced new support measures for people who are facing homelessness and housing stress, including $28 million for emergency hotel accommodation, rental and bond support payments, and food relief services.
And all of this came alongside another promise to build an additional housing factory in Cairns that will help the state roll out pre-fabricated homes in a matter of weeks.
But first: What's going on with housing in Queensland?
Queensland's housing crisis is out of control right now, with a record housing shortage and skyrocketing rental prices.
Since the pandemic began, rental prices have increased by 23 per cent nationally – but in Queensland they've shot up by 34 per cent.
The crisis has forced Queenslanders out of their home, with the state's homeless population rising 22 per cent in the past five years and domestic violence shelters have reported that they're struggling to find space for women escaping dangerous situations.
There are also huge unmet needs for social housing. In fact, earlier this month the Queensland Council of Social Services released a report that found that there are currently 100,000 households waiting for social housing.
In order to battle these mounting issues, Palaszczuk convened a housing summit late last year to try and find "sustainable, tangle, workable solutions" to these massive issues. It brought together people with lived experience of housing needs, frontline service providers, representatives from the housing industry and professional peak bodies to develop those solutions.
As a result of the summit, the Queensland Government committed to some significant investments, including doubling the Housing Investment Fund with an additional $1 billion to drive social and affordable housing, as well as accelerating developments in key growth areas in the state like Caloundra South and Greater Flagstone.
However, the Palaszczuk government has so far ignored other calls from housing organisations, including recommendations that the state should clamp down on the number of properties that are moving from being long-term rentals into short-term Airbnb stays.
Want to know more about the housing crisis? Listen to this episode of The Quicky.
Image: Getty + Mamamia.
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